#811 Packers Unscripted: Close call in Chicago

the Chicago Bears twenty to nineteen. Everything on that final drive the Bears, you know, getting out of the third and nineteen, they convert on fourth and short, They get themselves in position and it's looking like, okay. The Packers have won a couple games on walkoff field goals. Now they're going to lose one on walk off field goal. But no, Carl Brooks gets the hand up there, gets the fingertip on the football and the Packers survive.

a kicker after Robbie Gold. Santos is the one that ended that carousel for them, right and has held down that job for multiple years now. I hate to be a pessimist. I love being a half glass, half full guy. But I had a running game story to write. You were doing a final recap. I was getting ready for a Packers loss in terms of writing my stuff and getting stuff ready so we could get down to the locker room. I was ill prepared for handling a potential game.

Missing a field goal is one thing, but then a game winning field goal block, the first one since your great grandfather was what traversing the halls of Washington.

massage it any other way other than the sack. The Packers won the game, and they continued in unprecedented eleven straight victories over the Chicago Bears.

The Packers sat on the ball, twenty eight yarder. This is going to be a win, Brian Robinson, the hand of Walter Walter Payton had passed away earlier in the week. The hand of Walter blocks the field goal, and the Bears break their ten game losing streak in the rivalry.

Fast forward to Sunday at Soldier Field, and the Packers have won ten straight, and the Bears are lining up for the field goal to break the ten game losing streak, and the Packers blocked the field goal to make it eleven in a row, the first time in the history of the NFL's oldest rivalry that one team has won eleven straight. But breaking this game down a little bit further offensively first, for Green Bay. I came out of this I came out of this game just with a

whole bunch of mixed feelings about the offense. Because if you had told me we had talked all week last week and I was the one stressing it, the Bears were the number one red zone defense, the Packers were the number twenty nine red zone offense. That was the

situational matchup that would probably decide the game. If you had told me before the game started that the Packers were going to get in the red zone five times against the Bears and score three touchdowns, I would have said Packers are going to have a heck of a

chance to win the game. But if you had also told me that twice when the Packers get in the red zone, they're going to get zero points on two red zone opportunities in this case actually two opportunities that got all the way the five yard line and the Packers got no points. I would have said, well, you're gonna have a hard time winning that football game. So that's where I say, like, I have my mixed feelings. There was a ton to like about what the Packers

did on offense with very limited opportunities. We'll talk about the reasons for those limited opportunities when we get to the defense. There was a lot to like about what the Packers did on offense, but to only come out with twenty points in that game was extremely frustrating because again, as we've said so many times this year, there was so much more out there for this team to put on the scoreboard.

game plan I think was rock solid. There were so many things that you and I discussed last week. You had to run the football. They probably didn't run it as well as they wanted to, but you had to do it because if you getting third and long, you're setting You're setting the bear trap. There no pun intended for Chicago be able to get a takeaway, which is ultimately what happened in the red zone on one of those plays when they had to go third and long

and they're still darting towards the end zone. Christian Watson was unbelievable in this game. The downfield stuff that him and Jordan Love had been trying to find their chemistry, trying to find that get on the same page with They did it in this game. A few moments of results over process, the long pass, the forty eight yarder when it also looked like you had Tucker Craft available underneath. It is what it is. But what I loved about that play too. I'm sure you saw it in You're

What you might have missed series. Tucker's running right towards Christian to celebrate with them. As soon as the play Happens was extremely happy for him. Watson's a guy that has very much. He has absolutely earned all of those opportunities. The sixty yard catch and run won the Packers the game pretty much, and they did those types of explosive plays. And when you look at how the Packers won this game, independent of Carl Brooks's block, they won it with explosive plays.

The Chicago Bears played cleaner, the Packers played better, and that's how they won the game. The disappointing thing was much like I was talking about with the run game. Everybody knew the Packers had to produce inside the red zone to be able to really pull away in this one, and they failed to do that. Part of that. You give credit to the Bears. They're the number one ranked red zone defense for a reason. But unfortunately some of the things that have plagued the Packers showed up in

the red zone. The penalty that initially pushed him back on the illegal man downfield, those are the type of things you still want to clean up while buying large.

They did in the penalty front, but it showed itself in the red area and then certainly just a missed opportunity Jordan Love played a pretty solid game overall, but then as Matt Lafleur was saying, the ball kind of sales on him on that third down pass to Tucker Craft a moment where the Packers are just maybe trying to use that catch and run that yack to potentially getting to the end zone, and it doesn't work out there, it ends up being an interception, Chicago's offense starts rolling

the other way. A lot of words I've just spoken, but basically it comes down to the fact that Packers still have things to work on, but they're one of the most explosive offenses in the league right now, and that's ultimately what bailed them out.

hat on moving forward. I'm one hundred percent with you on Christian Watson was that was a tremendous game for him. All four of his catches, all four of his receptions, were explosive plays, and they were all critical. They were all big time plays at big moments in the game. The other guy, I will point out that I thought played a really, really good game, and it seems like I talk about him every week as Josh Jacobs. He

was grinding away on the ground. He also had an impact in the passing game, rushing and receiving one hundred and thirty four yards from scrimmage. For Jacobs, the receiving was a combination of a couple of design passes, but also a couple of checkdowns, which then also gets me to the game that Jordan Love played. And quite honestly, yes there's a lot of focus on the interception, is a throw that got away from him. Was the right decision where the ball was supposed to go on the play,

It was just a bad throw. The Bears happened to have somebody in the right spot where the overthrow went to get the interception, But honestly, that was the only bad pass Jordan Love threw. The entire game. Quite frankly, he ends up thirteen out of seventeen. He scrambled and took off. He made the Bears pay a little bit with his legs. He did take checkdowns to the running backs, whether it was to Chris Brooks or to Josh Jacobs here and there. Other than that one bad pass, he

did not put the ball in harm's way. I thought Jordan Love played a really, really good game. I think him being fully healthy, having the bye week to rest up, take all the practice reps, all that stuff we talked about last week certainly played into it. Jordan Love was this close, this close because of that one bad pass to playing the type of game that we would be praising him for. Everybody would be praising him for up and down. I think that's a huge sign for this

Packers offense moving forward. And in his defense a little bit, Matt Lafleur fell on the sword with regard to the interception, not because of the play itself, but because that third and long was set up because Lafleur criticized himself for not just running Jacobs on second and one from the five yard line. Called the pass play. That's what leads to the illegal man downfield. You don't get illegal man downfield if you run the ball, so that back the

Packers up. Then they tried the end around with Jayden Reid that lost a few more yards of put Love in a bad spot with third and long, and Matt Lafleur was really upset himself for not just calling a running play on second and one. You get a first and goal inside the five yard line. You pounded in there, and very likely the game is fourteen to three and we're not talking about a black blocked field goal at

the end for the win. But back to my original point, I thought Jordan Love played probably his best overall game of the season. There's only one bad pass, one play like that that we're talking about as far as as far as what went wrong, and hopefully that bodes well for this offense moving forward.

at the end of the first half. In the beginning of the second, Love kept his composure as we know he does, but he led them out a huge drive there to start the third quarter, capitalized by Josh Jacobs getting that seven yard rushing touchdown, the fiftieth of his NFL career in the regular season, and then when they needed drives late, he made plays and he put his players in positions to make plays. The past the Christian Watson not the most perfect textbook pass. Watson had to

lay out for that thing and make a play. But the thing I love about what.

many games we have left? Or they're seven? Seven? Thank you?

can't worry about what's happened. Even last year. I thought, I don't know if you caught this, but Alex Smith had a tremendous analysis of Jordan Love in the lead up to Sunday's game, where he was talking about Jordan's numbers in the first half of last year are pretty similar to what they are right now. But then he got on that run. Nobody was talking about the eleven

interceptions the last season. They're talking about the four thousand passing yards the thirty two touchdowns, and that's where they need Jordan to get to now. So I thought that was a major step in the right direction offensively.

is going to get away. It might get picked off. You can live with that at the end of the day. The frustrating thing not just the two drives that reach the five yard line, but ultimately the Packers come away with no points. But as well as the Packers were moving the ball steadily consistently on offense, they only got six possessions in this game, not including the one play neel down at the end of the first half. Six possessions in this game, and that's because the Packers defense

had a really really rough day. The defense could not get off the field, could not get the ball back to Jordan Love and the offense enough. The Bears end up with thirty six and a half minutes of time of possession. They end up with on their seven drives. They didn't have a single drive with fewer than seven plays, and five of their seven drives were double digit plays ten or more. Combining third and fourth downs, the Bears

were twelve out of seventeen. Ye The Packers' defense just they put themselves in enough situations to get off the field, but then they couldn't do it. And the Bears had switched offensive coordinators, like we talked about, I think the new offensive coordinator whispered something in Caleb Williams's ear, so to speak of like, hey, you can take off and run. Your legs are a good weapon, go ahead and use them.

Don't forget about them kind of thing. And they mixed in the zone read stuff where it was you know where he gets the decision to hand off or keep, and he hurt the pa between the scrambles and the

zone read seventy rushing yards from the quarterback. That was a big game from Caleb Williams, and I thought the way he used his legs built his confidence in the passing game and the throws that he was able to make, and it just felt like it felt to me like the way the way Caleb Williams used his legs to hurt the Packers, it just kept the Packers defense on

its heels. Yeah, a whole game. The Packers were not in attack mode on defense because they got kind of thrown off kilter by all the running around that Caleb Williams was doing. And credit to the Bears it it should have been enough for them to win the game, and it almost was if they don't get the kick blocked.

And that's where you're starting to see things happen. Now again, I'll mention the positives here quickly. With the Packers defense, they didn't rupture. That's the thing. Green Baby had thirty fewer possessions or whatever it was, but they still had more explosive plays than yea, the Bears did.

a little bit too. When a team is starting at the minus two, if you don't rupture, even if you give up a couple first downs and the Bears are playing the way they have to play, they consistently have to keep getting first downs. That helped green Bay get through that situation to get the ball back to eventually have the one where they finally did go ahead with

the scoring drive. They responded in that instance that the tough thing for green Bay though, was, and I've gone back and forth with fans about this, but you finally get some pressure on the quarterback, you get the TJ. Slayton sack, which is then followed by the Rashan Gary sack. And Rashan might have had his best game of the season against Chicago with what he was able to do. When you look at the pressure numbers, when you look at the quarterback he had, some of the tackles he had,

Rashan was getting after it. He gets a sack from minus eight or nine yards third and nineteen. You're sitting in I know everybody wants the Packers to move up and play pressman coverage and be physical and everything, and you just cannot do that. But it's what that third downplay was a good illustration of, is the extremely minute narrow margin for error. Kings Lingbari leaves his feet on the pass rush. He's trying to make a play yep.

But then Williams again with the feet, gets in the open field, extends and then Romadunze makes two fantastic catches back to back plays. To be able to move the ball down field, you have to get off the field on third downs eight conversions and beyond that three fourth down conversions. On the five instances where they didn't convert on third down, Chicago was just way too efficient. Green Bay has to break that. That being said, they made

it right, and that's what complimentary football is. If you're not getting everything from the defense, but they're still keeping points off the board, there's still finding ways to keep you in it. That's where the special teams has to pick them up. And obviously that's where the explosive plays came into a factor for Green Bay as well.

a break up the clock. You and I were talking, and I think you and I were in agreement where it's like, Okay, you don't get too aggressive on third and nineteen. You make them take the check down, you know, you you sit back and cover, you make them take the checkdown. You come up, get a tackle, maybe they get seven or eight yards, and you've got them in like fourth and twelve, and then the game's on the line.

On fourth and twelve. What happened. The play got extended, and that's where that's where your plan defensively gets foiled, because the play gets extended and it becomes a you know, a quote unquote plaster situation because the quarterback avoids the sack, gets out of the pocket, and then the receivers are are further downfield and they're able to hit the sixteen

yard or so. Then instead of a instead of a fourth and long or a fourth and medium, you're in a much more fourth and manageable, you know, fourth and three. And then and then on that play, the fourth down play, I just I tipped my hat to Caleb Williams and roma death. That was a that was a back shoulder throwing catch down the sideline. I don't know what you can really do to defend that, and it's and it's such a quick, you know, three step drop and release.

There's nothing the pass rush can really do there. That's just a great play by those guys. You would have liked to have seen them, you know, seen it not be fourth and three, because then the defense is in a little bit different different situation.

They thought they were going to get him back. He only plays a handful of snaps in the first half. The knee wasn't good enough. He ends up in street close for the second half and wasn't able to continue. You so that's an injury injury situation that we will uh that we will continue to watch. But UH, but you know, it felt like at the it's it's the word I used at the beginning of the show. It just felt like the Packers survived it. Yeah, and UH and you know, and now they're they're seven and three

with UH with a lot to look forward to. As you said, seven regular season games left to go. There is a ton of football left in this season and uh and the Packers are in position to make something up and.

protection unit. As Matt Lafleur and Josh Jacobs both said, Bassachia brought it to the team and basically it brought it to his his phase, his wifense and said, I'll be highly disappointed if we don't come out with the block in this game. And I was talking with Javon Bullard afterwards and he's like, yeah, you know what we thought we'd get. Well, it just so happened to be the last one that they finally end up getting through on. And Carl Bradford gets his second block of his career.

And I want to mention that books Carl Brooks, Carl Bradford, I did it again.

It was probably just his own studying. Since twenty twenty two, when Rich Pasaci was hired, the Green Bay Packers now have the second most blocked field goals in the National Football League to Pittsburgh. And if anybody, if you know anything about the Steelers special teams units, yeah, and just what they've accomplished, they have ten in that stretch. The Packers have six, two of those belonging to Brooks. Two of them belonging to Kolbe Wooden, and I think Josh

Niman is in there as well. That the Packers have found ways to be able to do that. It just so happened in this case it ended up saving them a football game. The Packers now sitting at seven to three. Three of those games have come down to the and that final play has been special teams.

so in Wednesday's column. Yes, the long snapper is protected from contact, but the rule is he's only protected from contact when his head is down down and he's not allowed to just keep his head down the entire time and prevent Basically, to prevent anybody from rushing the a gap, he has to snap the ball, get his head up in position, and when his head is up then he

can be contacted. So you can't just snap the ball as a long snapper on a field goal and keep your head down and not allow anybody to rush in that spot. I mean, we know the Bears aren't going to get anywhere with sending this into the league. I guess I don't blame him in some respects for doing it. If I'm mat Eberfluse, I don't know if I would have made that public that I'm complaining about that.

I think there's a line there where you obviously are working the officials. But it reminded me of my own city league basketball career, where there were times where we would play teams and we knew we were not as good as them, and we knew we needed every single thing to go right in order to even have a remote chance of beating them, and we would be on the officials of these making twenty five bucks or whatever

for the game. That's what it reminded me of. It didn't remind me of a head coach working the referees. It reminded me of a guy that's pretty desperate for his team to win. And I mean before the McKinney flag, there was another incident on the sideline where his hands were up, his neck was back, and he's thrown himself around like a beanie baby, trying to, you know, make it known that he thinks there should be a penalty. It is what it is. You move on. But I

love what Matt Lafleur said about this. You can't depend on that stuff. He wasn't talking about Eberflus, but he was just talking about it happens all the time. There are always penalties that you are going to disagree with, the things you didn't think got called. But your team still needs to win the football game and play beyond that. Yeah the Bears didn't do that.

We have something for everyone. The Garlasconts and cheese Kurds, mac and cheese, golden fries, and creamy shakes, all paired with your favorite sub or sub in a bowl, Cousin subs fifty plus years of better. All right, we're running a little bit late, so we'll get through this quickly and then sign off. The NFC North Detroit is nine and one, Minnesota is eight and two, Green Bay is seven and three. The weekend played out as we thought.

The NFC North completed a fourteen to two near sweep of the AFC South, with the Jaguars losing to the Lions and the Titans losing to the Viking.

to three or something like that. But if you can do that with thirty two teams the best players in the world, you tip your cap to them. And then certainly Tennessee made it a little bit interesting, but just Minnesota too much. One, eight and two, seven and three. What a division.

And I think all of those teams still have a lot in front of them, and some of those some of those games might quite frankly be playoff previews.

some point in the postseason. Just seemed like it's the way it's been working out. But I think there's a lot more to be gained from that for for the Chiefs, even though you want to win that game from a potential loss. I thought Patrick mahomes post game speech was terrific. Is his address of the media was. I loved.

to try to go get a touchdown. And not only do they convert the fourth and two, but Josh Allen takes it all the way into the end zone, so they get the two score lead that Sean McDermott wanted. And the two score lead is what finally put Patrick Mahomes away.

And it also when you have an established football team with an established coach and in a staff, in a franchise quarterback that people tried to, you know, kind of throw some shade at earlier this year, but I mean, Josh Allen is obviously one of the top three quarterbacks in the league, potentially the MVP this season. That's the type of stuff that you do. And obviously it worked out well for Buffalo.

But how Washington now responds to that moving forward is going to be a big factor in the NFC playoff picture of the rest.

Packers Unscripted. Be sure to follow all of our coverage of the team on Packers dot com. For Wes, I'm Mike. Thank you for tuning in, everybody. We will see you next time.